Technical Integrity Bloghttps://technicalintegrity.com/blog
A Culture First, Community Based Approach To Team Building for StartupsTue, 25 Sep 2018 19:14:04 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.8It’s Denver Startup Week 2018! We’ve got stats and stickers!https://technicalintegrity.com/blog/2018/09/24/its-denver-startup-week-2018-weve-got-stats-and-stickers/
Mon, 24 Sep 2018 20:33:43 +0000https://technicalintegrity.com/blog/?p=2025We look forward to seeing all our friends at #DENstartupweek. We will be at the Opening Party on Monday night, and otherwise we will be based out of Commons on Champa aka Basecamp. We’re thrilled to see such progress in Denver among key indicators such as the total number of startups and employees at startups growing…

]]>We look forward to seeing all our friends at #DENstartupweek. We will be at the Opening Party on Monday night, and otherwise we will be based out of Commons on Champa aka Basecamp.

We’re thrilled to see such progress in Denver among key indicators such as the total number of startups and employees at startups growing dramatically, and of course the amount of money raised increasing to nearly 600MM in the past year. You can see the specific stats put out by our friends at Downtown Denver Partnership in the attached infographic.

Our favorite stat is according to Paychex, Denver is now the best metro area in the US for small business employment. Super cool.

It’s so gratifying to see Colorado embracing entrepreneurship more and more every year.

We look forward to seeing you at DSW18 and be sure to stop us and grab one of our new Startup Week stickers!

]]>Happy Denver Startup Weekhttps://technicalintegrity.com/blog/2018/09/24/happy-denver-startup-week/
Mon, 24 Sep 2018 19:55:38 +0000https://technicalintegrity.com/blog/?p=2013 We’re excited to be part of Denver Startup Week 2018. Please let us know how we can be of assistance to you in attracting, recruiting and retaining top talent in Denver and beyond! Drop us a line to dave@technicalintegrity.com. To check out our latest jobs see https://loxo.co/technical-integrity and be sure to check out our latest…

]]>THANKS!https://technicalintegrity.com/blog/2018/05/15/boulder-startup-week-sticker/
Tue, 15 May 2018 17:24:49 +0000https://technicalintegrity.com/blog/?p=2005We are incredibly grateful for all that John Fischer, CEO of StickerGiant, has done for the Boulder and Denver startup communities. He’s a true leader and he embodies the #GiveFirst ethos that we hold so dear. We were humbled that the StickerGiant team offered to sponsor our #BSW18 sticker run and we’re excited to share…

]]>We are incredibly grateful for all that John Fischer, CEO of StickerGiant, has done for the Boulder and Denver startup communities. He’s a true leader and he embodies the #GiveFirst ethos that we hold so dear.

We were humbled that the StickerGiant team offered to sponsor our #BSW18 sticker run and we’re excited to share them with you!

Thanks especially to Tom Witting and Jesse Freitas for all their work on our behalf!

Happy Boulder Startup Week and see you at Ignite Boulder, which we are again co-sponsoring with StickerGiant!

]]>Happy Boulder Startup Week!https://technicalintegrity.com/blog/2018/05/14/happy-boulder-startup-week/
Mon, 14 May 2018 14:28:01 +0000https://technicalintegrity.com/blog/?p=1996 We are super excited to see you at BSW18 and in celebration of this year’s big event we’ve created a short animated video! Happy Boulder Startup Week! To work with us drop a line to dave@technicalintegrity.com. To check out our latest jobs see https://loxo.co/technical-integrity and be sure to check out our latest endorsements.

]]>Top Ten Reasons To Love Boulderhttps://technicalintegrity.com/blog/2018/05/08/top-ten-reasons-love-boulder/
Tue, 08 May 2018 22:55:25 +0000http://staging.technicalintegrity.intend.media/blog/?p=1818I fell in love with the outdoors while in school at Virginia Tech. The campus was surrounded by the Appalachian Trail and the amazing Blue Ridge Mountains. We camped and hiked almost every weekend. I couldn’t get enough. After returning to the DC area upon graduation in late 1995, I knew I wouldn’t be…

I fell in love with the outdoors while in school at Virginia Tech. The campus was surrounded by the Appalachian Trail and the amazing Blue Ridge Mountains. We camped and hiked almost every weekend. I couldn’t get enough.

After returning to the DC area upon graduation in late 1995, I knew I wouldn’t be there long. Having grown up there for 20 years, I was ready for a change and the city-life wasn’t cutting it.

In the summer of 1997 I came out to Boulder on a business trip and I fell in love with the town, the people, the access to the outdoors, the weather and well, all of it, really.

I then moved to Boulder on December 1st of 1997.

The reasons that people move to Colorado vary of course, and I acknowledge fully that Boulder is far from perfect in many ways. It’s become expensive in Boulder proper (though surrounding areas remain approachable), it’s somewhat homogenous and it’s City Council is confusing, but Boulder remains a very special place to a lot of us.

In honor of Boulder Startup Week 2018 (and David Letterman’s old-school Top Ten List), I thought I’d put together a list of some of the reasons folks love Boulder so much.

We welcome your thoughts on what Boulder means to you, and be sure to stop us on Pearl Street during #BSW18!

8- The Music Scene– Boulder and Colorado’s music scene has really come into it’s own. That’s not a hard thing to believe in a college town full of artsy, smart(sy?)people. It doesn’t hurt that (IMHO) the best amphitheater in the world, Red Rocks, is 20 minutes away, and the bustling nightlife in Denver isn’t far either.

7- It’s Heaven for Foodies. Boulder has long been known to be home to nationally renown restaurants like Frasca and Kimbal Musk’s Kitchen – but there is so much more to find on and off Pearl. I can’t wait to find a new favorite happy place.

4- The great outdoors, the active and wellness centered lifestyle is embraced by most in Boulder. Access to skiing, hiking, biking, yoga, meditation retreats, whitewater rafting and more. As noted, this was actually number one on my list- Boulder’s Flatirons are a sight to behold and they are just the beginning of the access to National Forests, National Parks, Bureau of Land Management Open Space and more.

2- The GiveFirst Ethos – It’s the real deal. When we first learned about the simplicity and elegant idea behind #GiveFirst as a business related philosophy in 2008, listening to David Cohen and Brad Feld from Techstars, we smacked ourselves in the head that we hadn’t been living by this ethos for years already. To give of yourself, your time, your expertise and your efforts with no expectation of anything in return- is truly a life-changing mentality. No joke. We built it into our DNA as an organization in 2010 and life has been a rocket-ship of goodness ever since.

We welcome your thoughts and feedback, and we look forward to having an intellectual conversation about the meaning of it all, on Pearl Street, over coffee, followed by a great meal and an adult beverage- and perhaps some live music.

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Welcome Back Technical Integrity as Sponsors for BSW 18https://technicalintegrity.com/blog/2018/04/20/welcome-back-technical-integrity-sponsors-bsw-18/
Fri, 20 Apr 2018 15:17:39 +0000https://technicalintegrity.com/blog/?p=937Boulder Startup Week is proud to partner with Technical Integrity as our recruiting and Developer Track sponsor for #BSW18 and we thank you for your continued, and unwavering, support! Heading into their 8th year of sponsoring BSW, Technical Integrity is a mainstay of the Boulder startup ecosystem. Founded by Dave Mayer, Technical Integrity set out to…

]]>Boulder Startup Week is proud to partner with Technical Integrity as our recruiting and Developer Track sponsor for #BSW18 and we thank you for your continued, and unwavering, support!

Heading into their 8th year of sponsoring BSW, Technical Integrity is a mainstay of the Boulder startup ecosystem.

Founded by Dave Mayer, Technical Integrity set out to change the face of technical recruiting since 2010. They live by their namesake of having integrity in everything they do.

A culture-first, community based approach to team building’ in startups means taking a more detailed and nuanced approached as a recruiter. They take the time to understand the true values and needs of companies to ensure that the teams they help build are teams that will last.

This holistic approach of considering the culture, mission and values of all those involved is why Technical Integrity is the first, and only, stop for many startup companies in the Boulder community. Their successes include nearly 300 hires in Boulder and Denver—and 30 hires for Foundry Group and Techstars companies alone.

“We love Boulder, it’s our hometown and it’s where our heart is. The recruiters at Technical Integrity truly live by the #GiveFirst ethos that originated in Boulder, and unquestionably, it is why we are where we are today”. Said Dave Mayer of why Boulder is such an important community to he and his team.

It is through this continued commitment to the Boulder community that TI has donated countless hours of volunteer work in the Boulder area, as well as more than $50K of charitable giving.

To learn more about Technical Integrity, please visit their blog, below are a few community-centric posts that tell more of their story….

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The Colorado Startup Scene, on the Eve of Denver Startup Week 2017https://technicalintegrity.com/blog/2017/09/22/colorado-startup-scene-eve-denver-startup-week-2017/
Fri, 22 Sep 2017 19:48:07 +0000http://technicalintegrity.intend.media/?p=875On the eve of our fourth Denver Startup Week, we’d like to take a moment to explore Denver’s startup scene– as well as the incredible entrepreneurial spirit embraced around the state. Colorado is regularly ranked as a true leader of startup activity in the US. We currently rank number five in the country in startup…

Boulder has long been known for being a startup hub. It’s widely regarded as the most dense startup ecosystem per capita in the US for some time now. Denver of course has really come into it’s own since 2013 as an incredible place for startups to scale. In 2016 it was rated as the best place to live in the US. With the City, the Mayor, the Governor, and nearly 20,000 people showing up for America’s largest free entrepreneurial event- 2017’s Denver Startup Week – Denver is really humming.

Don’t sleep on startup and entrepreneurial activity in the mountains and the ‘Western Slope‘ which effectively encompasses anything West of the Continental Divide. There are incredibly talented folks doing really interesting and challenging things throughout Colorado, not just in the Front Range. Some are in the tech realm, some are not. You too could live the Colorado dream!

We moved here in 1997 and started helping people find their dream jobs in 2000. We have had a laser focus on the #GiveFirst, collaborative startup scene here since 2010. We’ve never looked back and we’d never trade it for anything.

Colorado will always be our home and we hope you will consider it too.

]]>Changing the World, One Mission Driven Startup At a Timehttps://technicalintegrity.com/blog/2017/08/16/changing-the-world-one-mission-driven-startup-at-a-time/
Wed, 16 Aug 2017 20:54:15 +0000http://technicalintegrity.intend.media/?p=854As we approach our eighth year in business, we have been proud to become regarded as a trusted adviser, a #GiveFirst community building champion, and genuine partner to the startup community in Colorado and beyond. In 2010 we set out to lead an ethical revolution in the recruiting realm. We’re proud to serve as an…

]]>As we approach our eighth year in business, we have been proud to become regarded as a trusted adviser, a #GiveFirst community building champion, and genuine partner to the startup community in Colorado and beyond.

In 2010 we set out to lead an ethical revolution in the recruiting realm. We’re proud to serve as an example in our transparent, no bullshit, culture-first approach to scaling software engineering teams. In addition to changing the face of recruiting – our vision was always to work closely with organizations that were doing the most good in the world.

We’re thrilled to say that we’ve stayed true to that vision.

As of late, we’ve been fortunate to work with four different organizations that are leveraging technology to better humanity. We love working with mission driven organizations- and we thought we’d take a moment to highlight the great work these partners are doing.

We recently helped Fort Collins based Community Funded find their new CTO, to architect the next generation of their crowdsourced philanthropy platform. CF helps universities and other high profile non-profits fundraise in new ways. As they say “everything we do is rooted in our vision of connecting, supporting and empowering humanity through our technology.” With this next iteration of their platform- they intend to facilitate millions of dollars in donations for higher education and four other sectors in 2018. Check them out here

Aunt Bertha is admittedly funny name for a growing startup doing serious business. AB was awarded a strong Series B by TechStars Ventures in 2016. Aunt Bertha’s platform helps those in need navigate the complicated world of social services (for help with food, shelter, health care and urgent financial needs), the advanced data capabilities of the Aunt Bertha Platform provide instant access to comprehensive, localized listings with hundreds of programs in every ZIP code in the United States. AB’s growing team in Austin needed experienced technical sales staff ASAP. We quickly identified several experienced SaaS sales experts with domain expertise. The senior sales account executive is now helping them scale their impact every day. Keep an eye on Aunt Bertha!

UrBike is a new startup in Denver focusing on sustainable Last Mile transportation for the urban sharing economy. It may sound like a mouthful, but the benefits are real. Promoting the development of Smart Cities, providing new carbon-free transport options, reducing traffic congestion, building healthier lifestyles, fostering sustainable development and more. This startup needed a true technical visionary and gifted CTO when it came to developing their app-enabled bike systems. We were proud to introduce them to just that person. UrBike is coming to your neighborhood soon- keep track and learn more here!

Katasi has been working to end distracted driving since 2009 with their Groove application. Katasi was featured on CNN a few times- most recently in this segment in 2016. Doing everything they can to reduce the number of accidents and deaths affiliated with distracted driving has driven their team to work hard for the cause. They are now engaging with telecommunications providers in North America and in Australia. They are in discussions with enterprise sized organizations and those that have large fleets to make the roads safer for all of us. We were able to help them find a lead mobile developer to continue their great work. Be sure to say hi to Katasi.

We can’t overstate how grateful we are to be working with these incredibly passionate, mission driven entrepreneurs and their teams. We look forward to seeing how their work inspires the next generation of innovators in the impact space!

Please share your favorite startups in this space and their stories below!

]]>More than $40,000.00 so far…https://technicalintegrity.com/blog/2016/11/07/more-than-40000-00-so-far/
Mon, 07 Nov 2016 21:01:25 +0000http://technicalintegrity.intend.media/?p=843$40,000.00. Wow. That’s fun to say! We’re proud to share that Technical Integrity has remained true to it’s mission of building community as a major priority. Since our inception, we’ve committed to supporting non-profits and NGO’s that are focused on making an exponential impact in critical areas such as increasing the number of females in…

We’re proud to share that Technical Integrity has remained true to it’s mission of building community as a major priority.

Since our inception, we’ve committed to supporting non-profits and NGO’s that are focused on making an exponential impact in critical areas such as increasing the number of females in the tech sector, improving the US Military Veteran’s return and integration into our economy, and investing in ‘Unreasonable’ approaches to social issues.

Below is a short list of the organizations we’ve supported through the years.

Going into the Holiday season, we ask that you please consider supporting organizations like ‘Pledge 1%‘ (formerly Entrepreneurs Foundation of Colorado) that ensure that your money gets to where it’s most needed. We also love that Pledge 1% empowers startups and entrepreneurs alike to set aside equity to be donated at the time of a ‘liquidity event’.

THANK YOU for supporting us in our mission to create an ethical revolution in the recruiting realm over the past six years. We’re grateful for your business, for your support and we’re certainly grateful to be part of such an amazing startup community in Colorado.

Lastly- don’t forget about Colorado Gives Day coming up in late November.
Such a great way to get involved and give back!

]]>The Time is (Always) Now to Discuss Mental Fitness in the Startup Realmhttps://technicalintegrity.com/blog/2016/10/13/the-time-is-now-to-discuss-mental-fitness-in-the-startup-realm/
Thu, 13 Oct 2016 01:23:41 +0000http://technicalintegrity.intend.media/?p=828Note: This is an edited version of a Linkedin post that appeared prior to Boulder Startup Week. We were lucky enough to have Naropa University, our gracious host, record the panel that’s mentioned in this blog. The video is embedded below. Stay tuned for the video from our Denver Startup Week panel on the same…

]]>Note:
This is an edited version of a Linkedin post that appeared prior to Boulder Startup Week. We were lucky enough to have Naropa University, our gracious host, record the panel that’s mentioned in this blog. The video is embedded below. Stay tuned for the video from our Denver Startup Week panel on the same topic!

During my relatively short six-year journey through the startup landscape- I’ve been through ugly founder breakups, I’ve lost plenty of money, lost way too much time, and I ended up in the hospital from exhaustion from too many 100 hour weeks.

That’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the reality of building new companies. I know of suicides, families being torn apart and of course several cases of debilitating depression.

While it can be exhilarating to be an entrepreneur or to work as a member of a startup, it’s most certainly a roller-coaster of emotions- and it often goes on for YEARS. Successes are often followed by disappointments and just being able to process the complexities of legal agreements, founder disputes, hiring and firing employees, scaling or downsizing, taking on funding, failing, iterating…you get the point. It can and does boggle the mind.

The most helpful thing for me personally was to be able to compare notes on a regular basis with my fellow entrepreneurs who were going through similar challenges. Even with a monthly ‘therapy’ session with my brothers-and-sisters-in-arms, my stress levels remained incredibly high and exercise and meditation were barely addressing my issues. Alcohol helped- only for a few hours- and of course, the next day – I was never at my best, unable to focus or be productive. I’ve recently started my journey to leave alcohol behind, for good.

One of my missions in the coming weeks, months and years is to provide my fellow entrepreneurs with tools to become more educated, less stressed, and more productive when it comes to their wellness- despite the constant barrage of change and tribulation in the startup realm.

My first public effort of this sort was to moderate a discussion during the 2016 Boulder Startup Week with some of the most prolific and respected names in startups including Brad Feld, Sarah Jane Coffey and Tom Higley. A key portion of this event was also a Q&A session with the audience to ensure folks can get answers they needed.

Each panelist had important personal stories to share, and tools and modalities to recommend. None of us pretend to have all the answers- but each of us has enough experience to know that it’s a fools errand to not listen to those who have been through it before. If we can help even one person who needs it- it will be worthwhile. One more important note- if you are easily offended by the F-bomb, this video may not be for you, as its used liberally and quite effectively.

I will personally continue to explore healthy alternatives and approaches to my own stress including different mindfulness techniques, exercise that requires being fully present, and yes, more therapy.

I also look forward to finding more colleagues and partners that are passionate about this subject.

To that end- I look forward to building further interactive and truly immersive programs in Colorado focused on entrepreneur wellbeing. I know we can help our colleagues lead healthier and happier lives. The impact of that can’t be understated.

I hope you’ll join me.

Here is the video from our BSW panel- sorry, I was a bit nervous at the beginning : )